Gates: U.S. Not Winning in Iraq

ByABC News
December 5, 2006, 11:50 AM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 — -- Robert M. Gates easily won the backing of the Senate Armed Services Committee to become the next secretary of defense today, saying the United States was not winning the war in Iraq and promising to act "candidly and boldy" to reverse the course of the war.

Gates, once criticized for having politicized the CIA as the agency's director, was unanimously approved by the panel's 24 members. He is expected to be approved by the Senate to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense as soon as Wednesday.

Asked by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., if the United States was winning the war, Gates said simply, "No, sir." He returned after a break to clarify that he was referring to the broader goals in Iraq and did not mean to suggest that American soldiers were losing the military battles.

The cordial hearing focused largely on the war in Iraq and whether Gates would take bold steps to reverse the rising violence and to craft an exit strategy for the 140,000 American troops there.

Having pushed Rumsfeld out of the Pentagon the day after the November election that gave Democrats control of both houses of Congress, President Bush is under intense pressure to show progress in the war and to withdraw American troops.

Asked about Bush's goals in Iraq, Gates said, "I believe that he wants me to take a fresh look, and all options are on the table."

Gates, 63, vowed to act with "considerable urgency" in Iraq if he is confirmed. He said that temporarily increasing the number of American troops in Iraq was "an option" but agreed with Bush's long-standing statement that a withdrawal from Iraq would have to be based on "conditions on the ground."

He agreed with Bush's opposition to a specific timetable for withdrawal, saying it would tell insurgents "how long they would have to wait until we're gone."

Gates noted that he had not spent much time in Iraq, and that therefore his views on troop levels were "too unformed to be helpful."

He added, though, that current troop levels were not "overwhelming."